SOLDIERS HAVE TO SOLDIER ON

This weekend was the first weekend I didn’t spend on Vancouver Island in a month. Last night was rough and tough, and I felt very much defeated. I didn’t need something to keep me occupied or attempt at making me smile; what I needed was rejuvenation. Rejuvenation wasn’t what I expected, but it was exactly what I got on this optimistically gray Sunday afternoon.

I hopped the 601 bus to Tsawwassen and was picked up by Chelsea. We then hopped the border into the United States to spend the afternoon in Point Roberts.

She’d been wanting to show me Lily Point Marine Reserve for sometime now, and the experience was incredible. It’s funny how driving across an imaginary line can instantly cause me to feel so far removed from all that I want to escape. We were only minutes from Canada but miles from “life.”

Lily Point holds an interesting piece of history in the area. Between 1884 and 1917, the Alaska Packers Association operated a salmon cannery at the edge of the water, overlooking the Juan de Fuca Strait. The cannery was subsequently abolished when the salmon supply depleted, but a few remnants still scatter the shoreline today. This is how it used to look.

It took no more than a brief glance to the silhouette of Saltpring and Vancouver Islands for my heart strings to feel a sharp tug. It will always be home, but what I yearn for there is in my past.

After admiring the view, we made our way down the clay cliffs to check out the cannery ruins up close and personal. Chelsea feels like Alice in Wonderland down here. I totally understand why.

I wouldn’t be hard-pressed to guess that much of what remained of the cannery had been destroyed by fire at one point.

I saw these two horses wearing pretty purple robes. So regal-like.

Obviously going to the U.S. and not raiding the candy aisle would be a tragic waste of time. We wasted no time. Chelsea’s big into the Swedish fishes.

That pink crap you buy? That’s not real cream soda, in case you were wondering.

I’m a sucker for VitaminWater, but those lucky Americans are also treated to VitaminEnergy drinks. I’m jealous. So I bought one. I’ll let you know how it is. (Oh and it’s in a can, not a bottle.)

$18.49 American dollars later, and it’ll all go straight to… well, I dunno. I’ll sweat it off or something.

Photos are great and the candy will be eaten, but I wanted a permanent reminder of my day.

I’ve always been fascinated by beach rocks, and the colours I found amazed me.

Whether you believe in God or not is your call, but I couldn’t help but be in awe of the beauty Chelsea and I experienced today. The beauty in the nature around us, in the simple honesty of our friendship and of the spiritual recharge that this day provided for me.

It’s ironic to me that, on the bus ride to Tsawwassen, I started to read Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert, because those three elements were key to what brought me the most joy today.

P.S. Follow me if you’d like post updates, as I have – and will continue – to write less often.

I grew up right next door to Point Roberts, in Tsawwassen. My family kept our boat in Pt. Roberts Marina, and I sailed Cal 20s from there with my friends as members of a Sea Scouts troop.

A favourite weekend activity for my friends and I growing up was to bike from Tsawwassen, through the border, stopping at Marketplace to pick up fried chicken and other goodies, and going mountain biking on the many trails down at Lily Point.

I also tried “sand surfing” on the cliffs, with a beat up old skateboard deck with an equally beat up pair of high-tops nailed to it. I was met with, uh, limited success.

@Tim It was a really awesome experience. Chelsea and I are already planning camping trips there for the summer and I am beyond excited to go back to watch the killer whale migration to Alaska. I’ll make sure to try out the clay cliffs when the weather gets better…